


Road Trip

by HowardR



Category: Deltarune (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Angst, Flirting, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Inner Dialogue, Kinda romance?, Kris is as flirty as ever, Light Angst, Nonbinary Kris (Deltarune), Road Trips, Selectively Mute Kris (Deltarune), Susie is super tall, it's weird - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-17 03:41:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29093670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HowardR/pseuds/HowardR
Summary: Ralsei is on a cross-country road trip. To ‘discover himself’. He tried to keep high hopes about that particular goal, but it was kind of hard to when he didn't even know what ‘discovering himself’ meant.And also he keeps seeing these two people who seem to be on the exact same road trip.
Relationships: Kris & Ralsei & Susie (Deltarune), Kris & Susie (Deltarune), Lancer & Ralsei (Deltarune)
Kudos: 7





	Road Trip

_ Okay, I’m not a people watcher. Really. I’m not. _

_ I kinda see it as rude, y’know? To just like. Stare at people. Without them knowing. I mean, I wouldn’t want someone to do that to me. So I don’t do it. _

_ But I’m  _ so _ bored, diary. _

_ I should’ve let my phone charge before coming over here. I could’ve played Kingdom Rush or something. But instead, here I am, drinking tea without a thing to do but talk to you. _

_ So. Uh. I’m people watching. _

_ God will forgive me, I’m sure of it. _

Ralsei glanced up, and bit his lip.

He always had messed up lips. Chapped pretty much all the time. Usually at least a little bit wounded, too - because he bit them. A lot. Whenever he tried to lick his lips, it usually came with the slightest taste of blood. It didn’t help that he had one cracked tooth. He’d never gotten a crown for it.

He kept writing in his diary, as his eyes roamed over the other customers at the little cafe he had stopped in.

He had gotten a hotel for the night already. His room was booked. But he wanted to stay up a little longer tonight before going to bed - he didn’t want to oversleep, after all. It gave him a headache.

_ There’s someone in the corner who looks like they’ve got a scar on their ear. Wonder how they got it? I hope nobody did it on purpose - it looks like it probably hurt a lot. I’d give them a hug to make them feel better about it, but most people don’t like that. _

_ The person in that booth over there has a nice pair of sneakers. Looks like they’re waiting for someone - but they look kinda sad, too. Did they get stood up? _

_ That girl by the door looks like she’s been crying. I hope she’s alright. Maybe I should go talk to her? _

_...No. Sad people usually need a little bit before they’re ready to talk. I’ll leave her alone. _

Ralsei bit the end of his pen.

Boredom, he had once heard, was a form of torture. Ralsei didn’t know if he’d go that far - but it wasn’t very nice, admittedly.

He took another sip of his tea.

His pen touched the page of his diary again.

_ Why am I even here? _

He looked down at the page.

The question stared back at him - without a single answer.

After finishing high school, Ralsei hadn’t been sure if he wanted to go to college. He wasn’t sure about a lot of things. After a moment, his best friend, Lancer, had suggested he go on a road trip. In Lancer’s own words-

“Whenever I can’t figure out something, I usually just listen to my splat sounds playlist in my room until I know the answer - but this seems kinda big for that, so… the people in movies usually go out and almost get murdered, or take a road trip!”

And, seeing as how Ralsei wasn’t exactly fond of the idea of almost being murdered, he had gone with the road trip option.

Lancer was an odd best friend. His dad had been really bad to him when he was younger. Lancer, most of the time, didn’t even seem to really think about this - or, even worse, didn’t even seem to know it had happened. When he did think about it, he usually burst into noisy sobs, and Ralsei would have to bring him to the bathroom until he was okay, and give him cookies and cupcakes.

That was okay though. It wasn’t Lancer’s fault. And, more than that - Lancer was a really great friend. Goofy sneakers and all. Whenever Ralsei needed advice, he’d come to Lancer right away - and, though it was always very weird-sounding at first, Lancer’s advice would usually end up being more useful than it seemed.

Lancer made him laugh, too.

And, in return, Ralsei made sure that Lancer passed high school, and had lots of sweets to eat.

They made for an odd duo, admittedly. But it worked.

And so, here Ralsei was - on a road trip. To ‘discover himself’. He had bought a fresh pack of pens and a notebook, to record whatever he might want to and make his usual diary entries. He had his phone to take any pictures he wanted, and entertain himself if needed. And keep up contact with Lancer. And, of course, his car, and a full tank of gas.

This was his first hotel. He’d been driving for about… four hours. Give or take. It had been… scenic. If a little stuffy.

He didn’t even know where he was going. Kinda vaguely in the direction of the Grand Canyon? But he was mostly just… going. Trying to find himself along the way.

Heh. Maybe one of the shops along the way would give him that. ‘Ralsei’s identity and future - now 20% off!’

Or maybe he could pick it up off the street. Maybe it was just… walking along. Past the white line, of course, so as not to get run over.

Or maybe it was on the road signs. Or graffitied on a wall.

...How would he even know if he ‘found himself’?

He’d probably just  _ know. _

The bell attached to the glass door tinkled gently - and Ralsei, startled from his thoughts, glanced up.

A pair of people walked in.

Ralsei blinked.

He and Lancer had always been an odd pair. The two opposite hair colours, different clothing styles and contrasting personalities had gotten them a lot of odd looks, whenever they walked into diners or cafes.

Now, suddenly, Ralsei knew what it was like to be on the other end of that.

The one on the left - closer to Ralsei - was shorter. Not short outright, though. Taller than Ralsei by a few inches. Just… short _ er. _ They (Ralsei couldn’t tell at first glance if they were male or female) were the palest person Ralsei had ever seen. It didn’t help that they were incredibly thin - their cheekbones stood out like wounds in the light, and their neck looked so fragile that a single strong breeze might blow their head right off. The thinness itself wasn’t helped by the hoodie they were wearing, which was at least four sizes too big for them - a light, dusty green, with a single pale yellow stripe. Their pants were simple and black, and their boots were made of leather that looked several years old. They were tied incredibly tightly, but the stings were long enough that the loops the knot made hung down to the toe of the boot. Overall, their clothes made them look much smaller than they were. Their hair covered their eyes completely, and hung in messy curtains down to their shoulders. Their lips were thin and, at a distance, looked chapped.

It was the girl, though, that really drew Ralsei’s eye.

She was around a head taller than the person with the green-and-yellow hoodie. Which meant she was practically a giant. The pale one was pretty tall themselves - a bit of a stringbean. Which meant being a head taller than them was pretty damn impressive. Her impressive stature didn’t stop at her height, though. She was very strongly built, too. Muscled. Her skin was sun-kissed, and slightly scarred at parts. In particular, a burn mark on her elbow stood out clearly. She had a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose, and her teeth were oddly sharp, and slightly yellowed. Her eyes were a shade of bright hazel that almost looked yellow in the right light, with pupils that seemed to be near-constantly dilated. She had a slick black leather jacket overtop of a tank top, and torn-up jeans. Her hair was a dark shade of maroon, and it cascaded down her back and spiked up in patches. 

She had an arm around the pale person’s shoulders, and was laughing at something. The pale person had a completely blank expression.

As they neared the counter, Ralsei noticed the girl waiting to take their order turn a delicate shade of pink, staring obviously at the punk giant who had just walked in.

“Uh - may I take your order?” she said - though her voice came out just a little bit…  _ off. _ And she was still a little pink.

Ralsei wasn’t sure if it was because of surprise, or if the girl was just being a gay disaster. Or both.

“Four black coffees, to go,” the giant girl said, leaning against the pale person at her arm.

The cashier glanced at the pale one.

The pale one made no indication that they noticed the glance.

“Will that be all?”

“Yep,” the punk said.

Ralsei, without thinking, began to quietly write in his notebook.

_ Two people just came in. One of them is really skinny and pale - I think they should get a snack soon, they clearly need it. The other one is really tale and kinda scary looking. They seem nice enough, though.  _

_ They ordered four black coffees, to go. Which is a little weird. I wonder what their names are? _

_ I’m gonna guess right now. The tall one is probably called… Morticia. And the shorter one is… uh… Max. See, it’s unisex, too. And they both start with M. That’s probably why the two are friends. _

_ They met and introduced themselves, and they were both surprised to find the other had an M name, too. Maybe they have birthdays in the same month as well. _

Impulsively, Ralsei began to do little doodles of them too. With Morticia (that was totally her name) as an incredibly tall monster, with an inhuman jaw and razor-sharp teeth, and Max as a small kid behind her leg, peeking around curiously. 

As Morticia waited at the counter for their coffee, Ralsei glanced up and noticed Max wander off, peering around the cafe - despite the fact that they probably couldn’t see a thing, with their hair all in the way.

Suddenly - as if by magic - Max’s eyes (or where their eyes should be, anway) latched right onto Ralsei.

Ralsei blinked.

Despite the hair that was draped over their forehead, Ralsei couldn’t shake the feeling of their pupils piercing him like daggers. He seemed to be pinned in place by the intensity of Max’s stare.

Without warning - Max began to walk over to him.

Ralsei was strangely tempted to scoot away, but repressed the urge - and instead, gave Max his very best smile.

“Hi!” he chirped, holding out a hand for them to shake. “I’m Ralsei.”

Max didn’t respond.

Ralsei blinked.

After a moment, Max gingerly grabbed his hand - and planted a gentle kiss on his knuckles.

Ralsei was too overcome with surprise, for a moment, to react.

Max glanced up, and quirked a tiny smile at him.

And it was only at that moment that Ralsei realized-

_ He was being  _ _ flirted _ _ with. _

His face felt like it caught fire, and his whole body became a little bit tighter - like a delicate string of tension had been weaved into his spine. After a moment, he also noticed that the back of his neck felt very hot.

He didn’t even know if Max was a girl or a boy.

_ Was this gay? _

_ Was HE gay? _

Oh, Lord, this was  _ not _ the kind of ‘discovering himself’ he had wanted to do on this trip.

“Dude,” Ralsei heard - and glanced up, to find Morticia standing behind Max’s shoulder. “Stop flirting with people for two seconds, please.”

Max let go of Ralsei’s hand, and shrugged - as if it was beyond their control.

Morticia sighed, and glanced at Ralsei. “Sorry about that, little dude. They’re al-”

Suddenly, though, Max nudged her sharply - and pointed at the counter.

Looked like their four coffees were ready.

Both of them pounced on the coffees - apparently having forgotten Ralsei completely - and drank, like a drowning man taking in huge, clean gasps of air. Morticia seemed to have some modicum of restraint, at least, only taking in fairly large sips - but Max seemed to be  _ possessed, _ nearly, by the availability of coffee. A thin trail of it dripped down one of their cheeks, as they drank and drank and drank - enough so that Ralsei wouldn’t be surprised if they drained the whole cup without putting it down once. 

Morticia seemed completely unsurprised by this - and took a napkin out of her pocket, to wipe away the coffee that had dripped down their cheek.

Ralsei, suddenly, was struck with the question of what exactly their relationship was - because that seemed awfully relationship-esque for someone who hadn’t been upset about Max flirting with someone else.

Max lowered their coffee - and when it landed on the counter, it came with the tell-tale hollow  _ thunk _ of an empty cup.

Ralsei couldn’t help but smile to himself.

And, with that - the odd pair left the store the way they came. Morticia still holding her unfinished coffee, and Max already starting to drain another cup.

Ralsei watched them leave - feeling much more confused, a lot less sure of his sexuality, and suddenly very conflicted about this whole trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh. Okay. New fic. Let's go.
> 
> Sooooo, the usual way to do these character dynamics is with Susie and Lancer being besties, and Ralsei and Kris be best buds/lovers/siblings/whatever. So I decided to switch it up with this one. And also make it a road trip.
> 
> I'm really excited about this fic. I don't currently have an upload schedule, but I'll try to post again by Saturday. So uh. Keep an eye out if you want more.
> 
> noccwtaitw,
> 
> -Howard R.


End file.
